Since May 1988, Deep Thought (DT), the creation of a team of students at Carnegie Mellon University, has been attracting a lot of notice. In the Fredkin Masters Open, May 28-30, DT tied for second in a field of over 20 masters and ahead of three other computers, including Hitech and Chiptest (the winner of the 1987 North American Computer Championships). In August at the U.S. Open, DT scored 8.5, 3.5 to tie for eighteenth place with Arnold Denker among others. Its performance was marred by hardware and software bugs. However, DT astounded everyone by beating International Master (IM) Igor Ivanov, the perennial winner of the U.S. Grand Prix circuit prize, who is generally regarded to be as strong as the average Grandmaster.

Giving Is Hard: The Complexity of Linear Navigation and Xiaofeng Chen, Wright State University, 274 SC9j22, Santa Clara, CA 95052.

Problem-solving techniques such as modeling, simulation, optimization, and network analysis have been used extensively to help agricultural scientists and practitioners understand and control biological systems. By their nature, most of these systems are difficult to quantitatively define. Many of the models and simulations that have been developed lack a user interface which enables people other than the developer to use them. As a result, several scientists are integrating knowledge-based- system (KBS) technology with conventional problem-solving techniques to increase the robustness and usability of their systems. To investigate the similarities and differences of leading scientists' approaches, a pioneer workshop, supported by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) and the Knowledge Systems Area of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, was held in San Antonio, Texas, on 10-12 August 1988. Part of the AAAI Applied Workshop Series, the meeting was intended to bring together researchers and practitioners active in applying AI concepts to agricultural problems.

A panel session at the 1989 International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Los Angeles dealt with the subject of knowledge-based systems; the session was entitled "Expert Systems: How Far Can They Go?" The panelists included Randall Davis (Massachusetts Institute of Technology); Stuart Dreyfus (University of California at Berkeley); Brian Smith (Xerox Palo Alto Research Center); and Terry Winograd (Stanford University), chairman. Part 1 of this article, which appeared in the Spring 1989 issue, began with Winograd's original charge to the panel, followed by lightly edited transcripts of presentations from Winograd and Dreyfus. Part 2 begins with the presentations from Smith and Davis and concludes with the panel discussion. Although almost four years have passed since this discussion took place, the issues raised and the points discussed appear no less relevant today.

Commentators on AI converge on two goals they believe define the field: (1) to better understand the mind by specifying computational models and (2) to construct computer systems that perform actions traditionally regarded as mental. We should recognize that AI has a third, hidden, more basic aim; that the first two goals are special cases of the third; and that the actual technical substance of AI concerns only this more basic aim. This third aim is to establish new computation-based representational media, media in which human intellect can come to express itself with different clarity and force. This article articulates this proposal by showing how the intellectual activity we label AI can be likened in revealing ways to each of five familiar technologies.

This article records the results of an experiment in which a survey of AI and expert systems (ES) literature was attempted using Science Citation Indexes. The survey identified a sample of authors and institutions that have had a significant impact on the historical development of AI and ES. However, it also identified several glaring problems with using Science Citation Indexes as a method of comprehensively studying a body of scientific research. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned against using the results presented here to conclude that author A is a better or worse AI researcher than author B.

An artificial laboratory is a hypothetical computing environment of the future that would integrate mathematical and statistical tools with AI methods to assist in computer modeling and simulation. An integrated approach of this kind has great potential for accelerating the rate of scientific discovery.

Review of Expert Systems for the Technical Professional

The specific motivations underlying this research include the following propositions: (1) Reasoning from experimental evidence contained in the clinical literature is central to the decisions physicians make in patient care. Furthermore, the model can help us better understand the general principles of reasoning from experimental evidence both in medicine and other domains. Roundsman is a developmental computer system that draws on structured representations of the clinical literature to critique plans for the management of primary breast cancer. Roundsman is able to produce patient-specific analyses of breast cancer-management options based on the 24 clinical studies currently encoded in its knowledge base.

A panel session at the 1989 International Joint Conference on artificial intelligence in Los Angeles dealt with the subject of knowledge-based systems; the session was entitled "Expert Systems: How Far Can They Go?" The panelists included Randall Davis (Massachusetts Institute of Technology); Stuart Dreyfus (University of California at Berkeley); Brian Smith (Xerox Palo Alto Research Center); and Terry Winograd (Stanford University), chairman. Part 1 includes presentations from Winograd and Dreyfus. Part 2, which will appear in the Summer 1989 issue, includes presentations from Smith and Davis and concludes with the panel discussion.